It’s almost becoming a ritual at AccessEAP that we celebrate another week that we have successfully gotten through together, for our people and for your people. We’ve taken up the challenge to shake things up, call out and celebrate the good things that are happening around us. We actively seek the wins, no matter how big or small, to share with each other. We know we can do with some feel-good news.

How often are you taking time out to reflect on how you are actually doing? Are you taking the time to acknowledge what’s been happening in your life and the lives of those around you? Can you remember the last time you acknowledged you’re doing your best to get on with your life through the challenges of COVID-19? We’d like to invite you to take the opportunity, right now as you read this to remind yourself:

“You did the best you could today and that is good enough”

Life is a series of moments, and sometimes we are not great at taking the time and space to seek a different perspective on what is happening in our lives. It can be challenging to find the time, space or create a moment of clarity where we can stop, pause and reflect. Let’s take the time, right now, and give ourselves permission to acknowledge what we’ve been experiencing in these challenging times and reward ourselves with some personal encouragement that we’ve done the best we can.

This week we’re turning our spotlight onto the positivity and power of finding new perspectives.

We’ve created two new tools, Managing perspectives and Regaining perspective. Both of our new tools provide your leaders and your people with some simple tools to help find balance in our work and lives. It’s the power of perception, and we can make a conscious choice to adopt fresh perspectives to help us get through this, admittedly longer than expected moment, together. Find our wide range of Leader Tools and Personal Tools, in the Employer and Employee Login Areas of our website.

In the lead up towards R U OK? Day next month, remember that it’s not about one day of the year. We invite you to make it a part of your everyday organisational language. It is a profoundly human question to ask, and helps us as humans come together.

As always, our people are here to help support you and your people be their best in life and work. Contact AccessEAP on 1800 818 728. 

#WomensHealthWeek 7-11 September 2020

With the stress COVID-19 has placed on everyone's lives, it’s now more important than ever to look after your overall health and wellbeing. This September, Women’s Health Week will be a great reminder to take time out to check in on your health and to keep making positive changes that can last a lifetime.

For more information and free resources visit the Jean Hailes' Women's Health Week Website. It's time to put your health first.

With so many competing demands and expectations, the struggle to keep up with both work and home commitments can be extremely stressful. When stress persists to a point that a person feels they aren’t coping, it can affect the functioning of their day-to-day life as well as their overall wellbeing. The stressors of too much ‘juggling’ together with trying to do things well and be ‘good’ at everything is impacting on women and their ability to sleep, think clearly and make decisions.

For more information about Women's Health and Wellbeing contact your Relationship Manager who can go through our Women's Wellbeing Training and Webinar options.

Let's celebrate another week of getting through the pandemic together. It's been tough for many of us, let's take a moment to recognise how far we've come and perhaps more importantly, how we've come together.

We wanted to congratulate our friends, colleagues and loved ones in physical distancing in Victoria for getting over the hump – you're halfway there! We're cheering and willing you across the finish line. Likewise, for those of you in Auckland, we're in this together. Last week Kate McPhee, one of our experienced Psychologists from Melbourne, spoke about evicting COVID-19 from our minds, where it's taken up a permanent residence for many of us. We think enough is enough and we want to call out that regardless of COVID-19 there are still good things happening around us. It's easy to lose sight of this and keep a balanced perspective. This week we want to ask all of you to join with us in openly talking about hope, optimism and our resilience that is helping us get through this together.

This week we're turning a spotlight on the power of positivity.

As leaders, one of the core things that we can do for people is to create a sense of safety for our people and teams. How we create this feeling of safety in our workspaces has a profound impact on how our people shift their thinking and engage with their work as well as their personal lives. Now more than ever, our people need us to create, foster and nurture psychological safety in the workspace.

We’ve created two new tools, Authenticity as a leader and Fostering Hope through COVID-19. Your Leader Tool asks us how we can be a beacon for navigating uncertainty, negativity and anxiety by talking openly about optimism, hope and positivity. Your Personal Tool asks us to reflect on what we've been through and foster hope for ourselves and others. Find our wide range of Leader Tools and Personal Tools, in the Employer and Employee Login Areas of our website.

Let's create balance in the story our people, teams and organisations are living through. For many of us, we're not great at recognising or celebrating those small moments in life that contribute to our sense of wellbeing. So we're taking up a challenge for ourselves, and invite you to join with us. Find those small moments of joy, ways that build a sense of connection with others and those rituals that help bring a smile to someone else. Call it out and openly praise it – together we can help our people move through the pandemic and create with our people, a workspace culture we are proud to be a part of.

As always, our people are here to help support you and your people be their best in life and work. Contact AccessEAP on 1800 818 728. 

It feels like the second wave is already upon us with everything that's happening across the region – and this week we want to acknowledge the challenges now facing our friends, colleagues and family in New Zealand. While some of us may feel like we can successfully surf the second wave, how many people are really talking about being on the second wave right now? How many of our people are just trying to get through renewed physical distancing restrictions? How many are barely keeping their head above water?

We know that people cope in various ways. Some of these coping mechanisms may look and feel very different to how we would cope. Alcohol, gambling, or even just withdrawing from connecting with other people outside of their home, are all behaviours that are both natural and normal reactions. However, these aren't necessarily healthy over a long period of time. As leaders, how should you respond to your people who are coping in different ways? How can you help your people grow through COVID-19 so they can be their best in life and work?

This week we're turning our spotlight onto support for our people to engage in positive coping behaviours.

We're asking everyone to challenge themselves to call out and name what they're feeling. Being able to name something gives us the ability to do something about what we've identified. It helps our minds being able to see things clearly, and more importantly, think about what we can do about it. Our data shows an increased predominance of feelings of tiredness, exhaustion, feeling drained or deflated and also a 'bit over it all'. We've recognised that over the past couple of weeks its been tough to be our best in life and work, as people we know, work with and care for are impacted across Australia and this week even in New Zealand.

As a result, we've decided that enough is enough and we're calling out the continual domination of COVID-19 in our thoughts, conversations and media. We feel it's time to recognise that there are different ways for people to cope, and our focus is on helping our people adopt positive, healthy, long term behaviours. Let's celebrate the fact that we are in this together, and come together to have the conversations that let us know what someone else wants from us that will help support them towards being their best through the pandemic.

We’ve created two new tools, Identifying coping behaviours and Evicting the virus from your headspace. Your Leader Tool this week calls out coping behaviours, so your leaders understand how their people are coping and ways to help them support their people. Kate McPhee, one of our experienced Psychologists from Melbourne who is living in the heart of the renewed physical distancing, has created our Personal Tool, which calls out that COVID-19 has set up camp in our minds and it's time to clean it out. Find our wide range of Leader Tools and Personal Tools, in the Employer and Employee Login Areas of our website. 

We've seen an increase requests for support over the past five weeks, and we expect this trend to continue as this time round people know what to expect and are seeking support sooner rather than later. We'd encourage all of you to continue to find ways to be your best, and be the support and leader your people want you to be.

We are here to support you through this. As always, our people are here to help support you and your people be their best in life and work. Contact AccessEAP on 1800 818 728. 

Photo by Lisa Fotios from Pexels

Published in Human Resources Director 15th July 2020

This past week has reminded us of the truth that change is the only constant. Our thoughts go out to everyone in Victoria as they’ve started another round of physical distancing. We hope that you feel Australia’s support as we get through COVID-19 together. One of the traits often attributed to the Australian personality and character is that we come together through hard times to support one another. Remember to reach out and connect with those of your colleagues, family or friends in Victoria, build connections and relationships as it will help them through the next six weeks.

We’ve noticed some interesting trends in our conversations over the past week and wanted to call it out. A word that has seen an increased frequency in use is ‘deflated’. We’ve noticed that many people experience feeling deflated and described themselves as feeling flat. There is certainly a sense that the recent increase in community transmission has many of us looking at Victoria and asking if, or even when, this could happen to us. How can we provide the necessary support to our people or our peers when we ourselves feel challenged? How can we build our resilience skills to help pick ourselves up or recharge our psychological batteries?

This week we’re turning our spotlight on the importance of naming and normalising the range of emotions and responses.

Supporting your people inevitably requires your leaders to ensure they continue to engage in the right sorts of conversations that will keep your people engaged and feeling supported. What are some tips and strategies you can equip your leaders and your people with? How does your organisation harness the power of positive communication to lead your people through these challenging times? How can your leaders keep things on an even keel as we continue to be challenged to adapt by COVID-19?

Within AccessEAP, we continue to emphasise the importance of investing in self-care. One of the things we always try to do is ensure that we care for our people so they can care for yours. What does this look like? Each morning in our daily Executive Leadership Team huddle, we make it a core agenda item to check in with each other. “How are you doing?” is one of the most asked questions at AccessEAP. Our people leaders make it a daily priority to check in with various members of the team. We’re seeing the benefits of this approach as our people check in on each other. It’s become more than a core part of our culture, it’s just what we do on a regular basis – and we see the benefits in our internal employee Pulse Surveys.

We’ve created two new tools, Strategies for checking in with your people and Acknowledging and neutralising negative thoughts. Find our wide range of Leader Tools and Personal Tools, in the Employer and Employee Login Areas of our website. 

We are here to support you through this. As always, our people are here to help support you and your people be their best in life and work. Contact AccessEAP on 1800 818 728. 

Photo by Ekaterina Bolovtsova from Pexels

For many months we have been exceptionally conscious of our physical health. In response to COVID-19, we have modified and learnt new behaviours which have helped keep many of us safe from becoming infected, or indeed infecting others. Some of these behaviours have been to adopt physical distancing, frequent proper hand washing, use of hand sanitiser or in the case of Victoria compulsory wearing of masks. Our focus on physical wellbeing makes sense during a pandemic. These good physical hygiene habits have helped Australians avoid the scale of infections in other countries such as America. 

What are the good mental, emotional and psychological habits which we have developed alongside these new physical hygiene habits? For many leaders, we have been focused on leading through crisis and evolving our workspaces to meet the requirements of the new normal such as COVID-Safe Workplaces. As you know, we all have signs posted all around our physical workspaces reminding everyone of the importance of physical hygiene requirements. Does your workspace have signs posted everywhere with psychological, mental and emotional good habits? 

This week we’re turning our spotlight onto the critical need to promote positive psychological and emotional habits as much as we’re promoting physical habits.    

How can we equip our managers and leaders with the tools that will help them equip their people with the necessary coping skills? What are the psychological and emotional habit equivalents of handwashing and physical distancing? How can we help our managers and leaders help their people move from surviving the pandemic to thriving beyond the inevitable recovery? 

We’ve created two new tools, to provide some strategies and tips for creating, promoting and sustaining positive psychological habits. Find our wide range of Leader Tools and Personal Tools including this week's tools, Building positive mental and emotional skills in your people, in the Employer and Employee Login Areas of our website. 

It’s also important to recognise and call out that pointing fingers and blaming others can often be a way for us to try and feel in control or to make ourselves feel better. The underlying factors shaping our behaviours during a time of crisis are often fear and anxiety. It’s important as leaders to ensure we model the kinds of behaviours we would like to see in our people and teams, as this will help support and grow your organisational culture through these challenging times.  

As always, our people are here to help support you and your people be their best in life and work. Contact AccessEAP on 1800 818 728.

Photo by Ketut Subiyanto from Pexels

As we continue to see the impact of rising cases in Victoria and with news of increased cases in Aged Care facilities, it is understandable that many of us may be feeling a range of heightened emotions. Concern for the residents, their families, and communities, as well as concern for the employees and managers at the front line, will challenge us all.

The media attention and increased scrutiny of the rise in cases has put additional pressure and stress on those in the aged care sector.  While it is important to address systematic issues, it is unhelpful to blame or point fingers. We all need to focus on addressing the situation and support those who have been impacted. This is time to focus on our learnings, not to start pointing fingers. Caring for some of the most vulnerable people in society during a pandemic and dealing with emotional issues such as deterioration in a resident’s health can be extremely challenging. Your people may feel themselves trapped, as they try and find ways to look after themselves and their loved ones against the needs of residents and their families.

In order to support staff so they can continue to do their job, we need to remind employees and managers that there is help available.  We know that at this stage getting through each day seems like all that we can manage, but it is important for staff to know support is at their fingertips. While we may not be able to control what is happening around us. We can help ourselves and each other by reaching out for support.  Counselling can be organised conveniently over the phone so it may be possible to get the support needed right now.

During this outbreak your managers and employees may be impacted in various ways and managers may require additional support, in their roles of leading or managing employees. We know that a key protective factor in organisations to reduce psychological risk is supportive management. A manager’s wellbeing is key so that they can support others. AccessEAP has a range of services to assist staff in managing stress, building resilience and keeping mentally fit through this challenging time. For more information about the support we can provide, please speak to your Relationship Manager who can connect you with our Clinical and Organisational Development teams.

Government support

Managing through uncertainty and crisis requires leaders to invest their time and energy in building and maintaining our people’s and our team’s resilience. We’re faced with new twists and challenges to leading in the new normal. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to demand flexibility and adaptability by all of us. How can we help equip our people with new ways of thinking and responding in their work lives?

We think it’s important to call it out – we need to develop our ability to engage with constant change and uncertainty and turn this into a strength. Adaptability is one of the elements which underpin resilience. Helping our people learn how to cope with challenges is important. Once this platform is solid, we can help turn these coping mechanisms into coping skills, and help our people use their strengths. One of the things leaders are expected to provide in today’s working environment is creating a psychologically safe environment. What does psychological safety in the workspace, given new blended work models, look like? How can we ensure that we are helping to provide feelings of safety and stability to our people?

This week we’re turning our spotlight on helping our leaders and our people lean into their strengths. In times of crisis, we can help ourselves and those around to ‘lift our eyes to the horizon’. Normal human reactions in any crisis is to focus the attention to what’s immediately in front of us and respond to perceived threats. While this is an incredibly useful evolutionary response, we can build additional ways for our people to adopt different perspectives and behaviours by identifying their strengths and know how to lean into these.

This week we have leaned into the strengths of our wellbeing skills, to bring to the forefront our blend of clinical and positive psychology tools to assist your leaders and your people. Find our wide range of Leader Tools and Personal Tools including this week's Harnessing Strengths tools in the Employer and Employee Login Areas of our website. 

As always, our people are here to help support you and your people be their best in life and work. Contact AccessEAP on 1800 818 728.

There’s an almost palpable sense of rising negative feelings about the resurgence of COVID-19 again this week. Our collective optimism that we crushed the first wave has been eroded as talk increasingly turns to the likelihood of an impending second wave and whether this is already upon us. We’re being challenged by events – how can we maintain our positive outlook on life? How are those of us who need to work really hard at being resilient coping with these constant challenges? Our data suggests that the personal impacts of living through the pandemic is increasingly challenging individual’s capacity to cope. How can we support our people to be their best in life and work?

Our resilience as Australians has been tested for over six months. Leaders need to maintain, build or reinvest in our own resilience. This can help us build the resilience of our people and teams. Some of the traits that comprise resilience are things that we can help our people learn and live in their day to day lives. As leaders, emotional intelligence and agility are two areas we have leaned into heavily through the pandemic. For our people, coping may require different sets of skills or traits.

As leaders, how can we better equip our people with the necessary skills and traits that help them cope better? How can we help them find perspective and keep as even a keel as is possible?

This week we’re turning our spotlight on resilience and particularly helping our people find ways to feel in control of their lives. COVID-19 is something that has happened to all of us. As Australians, we’ve chosen to come together to collectively try and flatten the curve. We’ve also chosen to, as much as possible, follow advice and implement new ways of living such as physical distancing. We’re making a choice to come together and do what’s necessary to try and prevent a broader second wave. Sometimes, we need to remind ourselves and each other that we’ve all been a part in making these choices.

Find our wide range of Leader Tools and our new Personal Tool - Finding and maintaining your sense of personal control in the Employer and Employee Login Areas of our website. 

Building resilience during these times can be challenging but it is something we can work on together. As always, as your EAP we are here to support your people whatever the nature of their concerns, please contact AccessEAP on 1800 818 728.

Learn how a conversation can change a life

Thursday, 10^th September is R U OK? Day and AccessEAP would like to support you and your people to feel confident asking “R U OK?”. 2020 has been a challenging year for everyone, and this year we are focused on helping people have these conversations and feel confident to respond if someone says they are not OK.

A common theme for many people this year has been isolation. It’s unfortunate that one of our best weapons against COVID-19 is something that can negatively impact on mental health and wellbeing. This year we would encourage you to consider the benefits of bringing people together for R U OK? Day. Examples could include our virtual group training session, a virtual morning tea or a lunch and learn session using our Webinar.

We wanted to start the conversation this week by addressing the question that is probably sitting somewhere in the minds of a lot of people – is this the start of the dreaded 'Second Wave'? Just as we were enjoying the reprieve offered from the restrictions of physical distancing, the Victorian government's response has been the reintroduction of Stage 3 restrictions for Melbourne. I'm sure our thoughts are with those who have been impacted directly or had friends and loved ones affected.

Last week we talked about the importance of language, and I must admit it is disheartening to be bombarded by media messages about the 'Ring of Steel' surrounding Melbourne. Already government messages are preparing other states such as NSW for the inevitability of heightened restrictions. It's hard in times like these to avoid feeling that we're under siege, and a constant defensive mentality is not a great way to achieve mental health and wellbeing.

This week we're putting the spotlight on supporting one another and the importance of getting the language right. As a result, we've also adopted a different approach to your support tools this week. We wanted to take the opportunity to have one of our senior clinical team members, Kate McPhee (Psychologist & Clinical Associate Coordinator) from our Melbourne office create the Personal Tool. We wanted to acknowledge the experience of those in Victoria and use their lived experience to help us better understand how to support others. Kate described some of the impacts of well-intentioned messages from friends and loved ones over the past few days as:

“We’ve had well-meaning interstate friends, family and colleagues say ‘you poor people in Melbourne having to increase physical distancing restrictions AGAIN’. Try to imagine how this makes us feel? For those of us in Melbourne remember they are intending to be supportive and its hard for them to understand, don’t take it personally and reach out to your family and friends in Victoria who do understand. In Melbourne there is a sense we understand why it has to happen, we’ve done it before and we are just trying to get on with doing our part.”

Access via our Employer Login Area - COVID-19 Supporting your people:

• Personal Tool - Coping with new physical restrictions and uncertainty

We are here to support you through these changes. Wherever you are located, we're in this together. As always, as your EAP we are here to support your people whatever the nature of their concerns, please contact AccessEAP on 1800 818 728.

Friday 24^th July 2020 is Stress Down Day, a fun and easy initiative designed to reduce stress and raise vital funds for Lifeline Australia. Stress Down Day promotes happiness, encourages help seeking and raises awareness of suicide prevention through raising funds for Lifeline's crisis support services. For more information, check out the Lifeline Website.

Self-care and managing stress during the COVID-19 pandemic

• Heightened anxiety and/or fear
• Increased irritability and outbursts of anger and arguments
• Difficulty in sleeping and relaxing
• Worrying excessively
• Increase in use of alcohol or drugs
• Having difficulty in communicating or listening
• Physical symptoms such as headaches, stomach pains
• Feeling depressed or guilty
• Denying feelings or saying you don’t care
• Confused, difficulty making decisions.

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, focus on looking after yourself with these self-care strategies:

1. Focus on personal hygiene habits
2. Keep things in perspective
3. Identify what you can control
4. Focus on the people around you
5. Take breaks to enjoy activities
6. Eat healthily
7. Make time to do things that help you relax
8. Talk about your feelings
9. Talk about other topics with friends
10. Find ways to help others.

For more information or to arrange an appointment, please contact us on 1800 818 728.

Whether you're working from home or back in the office, here are some activities that you can do to develop your mindfulness practice.

1. Do one thing well. Multi-tasking might sound high-powered but studies show that it's ineffective. Switching gears repeatedly from one task to another trip up the brain and inhibits focus on any one of them. Focussing on one task at a time generally improves your productivity and accuracy.

2. Make time during the workday to be "present". Chances are, you already do this and don't even realise it. Remember all those times you have been concentrating hard on a work-related task and not heard your mobile ring? That was you being mindful and present in your moment - with purpose and without judgment.

3. Choose to start your day purposefully rather than letting the day start you. Once you have sat down at your desk, spend a few minutes noticing your breath and concentrating on its flow - with your eyes closed.

4. Be present when interacting with a colleague in a meeting. This may mean allowing yourself to focus fully on the message of your colleague and not getting distracted by other sounds in the room or at home.

Published in Safety Solutions 26th June 2020

Published in MyBusiness 8th June 2020

During this unprecedented time, it is important to check-in on those around you. But what does that actually mean and what does it look like when we do “check-in?” Here are some strategies to help you to have these all-important conversations:

A quick message - A simple approach to this is if someone has crossed your mind and there has not been any interaction in some way recently, send them a text (or ring) and say I am thinking about you and I hope you are going well. Also, take an hour out of your week (on a designated evening every week) and check that you have contacted friends and go through all personal communication platforms ensure that you haven’t forgotten to get back to people who have taken the time to reach out to you. Phone calls tend to take more time but some people who dislike texts are better on the phone.

Listening - when ringing someone or meeting for coffee, sometimes they need to vent or just talk through what is going on. Sometimes we really just need to name and verbalize how we are feeling or what we are experiencing. They might not be asking for anything but for you to listen. They may not want advice. If you feel time-pressured, just be honest that you have a little time and you can listen if that is helpful. It’s also ok to say upfront “I have to get back to work soon/pick up the kids/errands to do but I have ten minutes free if you just need me to listen and want to get it off your chest.” Sometimes acknowledging something positive or saying thank you for something they have done, can have an impact on their wellbeing. 

Giving advice - it’s best to ask directly them if they want advice, and then to be clear about why you feel qualified or not qualified to give it and what your limits are. Almost no one wants unsolicited advice, and almost no one wants someone else to act like they can “fix” or “solve” us easily. Don’t give advice without ) knowing if they want it, ii) knowing the limits of your ability to advise, and iii) being prepared and accepting for them to say they’ve already tried that, it isn’t appropriate/relevant to their need, or there are reasons they just aren’t going to do what you are suggesting. Don’t argue. Trust them that they know what is useful for them.

Practical support - if you know they have limited access to things they need or they are unable to do tasks (and you are both willing and able to do those things) offer it. Something like “Hey, I’m going to go and walk/ride/run and just sit by the lake later and wondered if you’d like to come? It’s ok if you do or don’t want to talk, bring a book if you prefer” might take more effort, so only offer them anything that you reasonably can.

It's Men's Health Week from the 15th-21st of June. The focus is on Men and Families - Working Together for Men's Health, find out more on the official website.

At AccessEAP, we often hear from men that they feel pressure to be seen as invulnerable, stoic, and fearless. This can lead to unrealistic expectations that as a man you should be able to cope no matter what, and "get on with it". Emotions become synonymous with weakness and powerlessness. Men may also dismiss their feelings as unimportant and worry about burdening other people with their concerns.

Men experience emotions just as much as women do, however, the pressure not to show emotion or vulnerability means that emotions will build-up and result in what appear to be random and unexpected behaviour. Reluctance to talk about or acknowledge emotion can manifest in all sorts of unhelpful ways including:

• Excessive alcohol use
• Addiction to gambling or betting
• Ending relationships prematurely
• Resigning suddenly from their job
• Stopping activities of interest e.g. sports
• Neglecting friends and family
• Working longer hours
• Communication only via emails or text messages
• Aggression or violence
• Excessive time watching fantasy films, or gaming

What can AccessEAP do to help?